Tourette syndrome and histamine decarboxylase

Karagiannidis I, Dehning S, Sandor P, Tarnok Z, Rizzo R, Wolanczyk T, Madruga-Garrido M, Hebebrand J, Nöthen MM, Lehmkuhl G, Farkas L, Nagy P, Szymanska U, Anastasiou Z, Stathias V, Androutsos C, Tsironi V, Koumoula A, Barta C, Zill P, Mir P, Müller N, Barr C, Paschou P. Support of the histaminergic hypothesis in Tourette syndrome: association of the histamine decarboxylase gene in a large sample of families. J Med Genet. 2013 Nov;50(11):760-4.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is caused by the interaction of environment with a complex genetic background. The genetic etiology of the disorder remains, so far, elusive, although multiple promising leads have been recently reported. The recent implication of the histamine decarboxylase (HDC) gene, the key enzyme in histamine production, raises the intriguing hypothesis of a possible role of histaminergic dysfunction leading to TS onset.

METHODS:

Following up on the finding of a nonsense mutation in a single family with TS, we investigated variation across the HDC gene for association with TS. As a result of a collaborative international effort, we studied a large sample of 520 nuclear families originating from seven European populations (Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, German, Albanian, Spanish) as well as a sample collected in Canada.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS:

Interrogating 12 tagging SNPs (tSNP) across the HDC region, we find strong over-transmission of alleles at two SNPs (rs854150 and rs1894236) in the complete sample, as well as a statistically significant associated haplotypes. Analysis of individual populations also reveals signals of association in the Canadian, German and Italian samples. Our results provide strong support for the histaminergic hypothesis in TS etiology and point to a possible role of histamine pathways in neuronal development.

Baldan LC, Williams KA, Gallezot JD, Pogorelov V, Rapanelli M, Crowley M, Anderson GM, Loring E, Gorczyca R, Billingslea E, Wasylink S, Panza KE, Ercan-Sencicek AG, Krusong K, Leventhal BL, Ohtsu H, Bloch MH, Hughes ZA, Krystal JH, Mayes L, de Araujo I, Ding YS, State MW, Pittenger C. Histidine decarboxylase deficiency causes tourette syndrome: parallel findings in humans and mice. Neuron. 2014 Jan 8;81(1):77-90. 

Erratum in Neuron. 2014 Jun 4;82(5):1186-7.

Abstract

Tourette syndrome (TS) is characterized by tics, sensorimotor gating deficiencies, and abnormalities of cortico-basal ganglia circuits. A mutation in histidine decarboxylase (Hdc), the key enzyme for the biosynthesis of histamine (HA), has been implicated as a rare genetic cause. Hdc knockout mice exhibited potentiated tic-like stereotypies, recapitulating core phenomenology of TS; these were mitigated by the dopamine (DA) D2 antagonist haloperidol, a proven pharmacotherapy, and by HA infusion into the brain. Prepulse inhibition was impaired in both mice and humans carrying Hdc mutations. HA infusion reduced striatal DA levels; in Hdc knockout mice, striatal DA was increased and the DA-regulated immediate early gene Fos was upregulated. DA D2/D3 receptor binding was altered both in mice and in humans carrying the Hdc mutation. These data confirm histidine decarboxylase deficiency as a rare cause of TS and identify HA-DA interactions in the basal ganglia as an important locus of pathology.

Dong H, Liu W, Liu M, Xu L, Li Q, Zhang R, Zhang X, Liu S. Investigation of a Possible Role for the Histidine Decarboxylase Gene in Tourette Syndrome in the Chinese Han Population: A Family-Based Study. PLoS One. 2016 Aug 16;11(8):e0160265.

Abstract

Tourette syndrome (TS) is a polygenic neuropsychiatric disease. Previous studies have indicated that dysregulation in the histaminergic system may play a crucial role in disease onset. In this study, we investigated the role of the histidine decarboxylase gene (HDC) in TS susceptibility in the Chinese Han population. After genotyping 241 TS nuclear families trios, we analyzed three tag HDC single nucleotide polymorphisms (rs854150, rs854151, and rs854157) in a family-based study using the transmission disequilibrium test (TDT) and haplotype relative risk (HRR). TDT showed no over-transmission in these SNPs across the HDC region (for rs854150: χ2 = 0.472, P = 0.537, OR = 1.097, 95%CI = 0.738-1.630; for rs854151: χ2 = 0.043, P = 0.889, OR = 1.145, 95%CI = 0.767-1.709; for rs854157:χ2 = 0.984, P = 0.367, OR = 1.020, 95%CI = 0.508-2.049). HRR also showed the same tendency (for rs854150: χ2 = 0.211, P = 0.646, OR = 1.088, 95%CI = 0.759-1.559; for rs854151: χ2 = 0.134, P = 0.714, OR = 0.935, 95%CI = 0.653-1.339; for rs854157:χ2 = 0.841, P = 0.359, OR = 1.206, 95%CI = 0.808-1.799). Additionally, the haplotype-based haplotype relative risk showed a negative association. Although these findings indicate an unlikely association between HDC and TS in the Chinese Han population, a potential role for HDC cannot be ruled out in TS etiology. Future research should investigate this more thoroughly using different populations and larger samples.